The gameplay of God of War focuses on combo-based combat, achieved through the player's main weapon—the Blades of Chaos—and a secondary weapon acquired later in the game. It features quick time events that require the player to complete various game controller actions in a timed sequence to defeat stronger enemies and bosses. The player can use up to four magical attacks and a power-enhancing ability as alternative combat options. It also features puzzles and platforming elements.

God of War sold more than 4.6 million copies worldwide and is the eleventh best-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time. Regarded as one of the best action-adventure games for the platform, it won several "Game of the Year" awards. In 2009, entertainment website IGN named God of War the seventh-best PlayStation 2 game of all time. It has been highly regarded for its graphics, sound, presentation, and story, in addition to its gameplay. The game and its first sequel, God of War II, were remastered and released in November 2009 as part of the God of War Collection, and in 2012, the remastered version was re-released as part of the God of War Saga, both for the PlayStation 3 (PS3). A novelization of the game was published in May 2010 and a film adaptation has been in development since 2005.

Gameplay

God of War is a third-personsingle player video game viewed from a fixed camera perspective. The player controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements, and battles foes who primarily stem from Greek mythology, including undead soldiers, harpies, minotaurs, Medusa and her Gorgons, cyclopes, wraiths, Sirens, satyrs, centaurs, cerberuses, and boss opponents—the Hydra and a giant minotaur known as Pandora's Guardian.[7] Platforming elements require the player to climb walls and ladders, jump across chasms, swing on ropes, and balance across beams to proceed through sections of the game. Some puzzles are simple, such as moving a box so that the player can use it as a jumping-off point to access a pathway unreachable with normal jumping, but others are more complex, such as finding several items across different areas of the game to unlock one door.[8]

Throughout the game world, the player finds chests colored green, blue, or red, and each chest contains orbs of the corresponding color. Green orbs replenish the player's health, blue orbs replenish magic allowing further usage, and red orbs provide experience for upgrading weapons and magic—allowing new, more powerful attacks—and replenishing the Rage meter, which, if full, allows for the usage of the Rage of the Gods ability. Red orbs are also collected by killing foes and destroying certain inanimate objects.[9] The player can also find Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers in unmarked chests. The Eyes and Feathers increase the length of the Health and Magic Meters, respectively; finding eighteen of an item maximizes a meter and in turn, the player's power.[10]

Combat

Kratos (in air) attacks the Hydra with the Blades of Chaos. The HUD in the upper left corner displays the Health Meter. The number indicates the number of red orbs the player has collected. The green meter at the bottom of the screen shows the opponent's health.

Kratos' main weapon is the Blades of Chaos: a pair of blades attached to chains that are wrapped around the character's wrists and forearms. In gameplay, the blades can be swung offensively in various maneuvers. Later in the game, Kratos acquires a secondary weapon called the Blade of Artemis: a large sword that offers alternative combat options.[11] Kratos also learns to use four magical abilities, (such as Zeus' Fury: allowing lightning bolts to be thrown at distant targets) which allow the character to kill both individual and multiple targets. Other magical abilities include Medusa's Gaze, Poseidon's Rage, and Army of Hades.[12] A relic called Poseidon's Trident is also acquired, allowing Kratos to breathe underwater and navigate through this environment.[10] Early in the game, Kratos also acquires a special ability called Rage of the Gods, which provides temporary invulnerability and increased attack damage.[13]

In combat, a quick time event (QTE) feature, also called context sensitive attacks, is initiated when the player has weakened a strong foe. The player performs a sequence of actions on the game controller shortly after an image of its circle button appears as an on-screen prompt. This allows for limited control of Kratos during a QTE cinematic sequence, which, if successful, ends the battle; failure usually results in damage to the protagonist.[14] Similar in function is a quick time sex mini-game in the form of an encounter with female twins, which has become a regular feature throughout the series.[15]

When the game is completed, a challenge mode—ten trials called the Challenge of the Gods—is unlocked; this requires players to complete a series of specific tasks (e.g., “Kill all cyclopes before time runs out”). The player may unlock bonus costumes for Kratos, behind-the-scenes videos, and concept art of the characters and environments, as rewards. Completion of each difficulty level unlocks additional rewards.[16]

The Aegean Sea setting includes a mass of shipwrecked vessels.[17] Athens is a war-torn city under assault by Ares, the God of War;[18] beyond the city is the Desert of Lost Souls, a vast and windy desert of ancient ruins. The majority of the game occurs in Pandora’s Temple, which is chained to the back of the Titan Cronos, who crawls through the desert.[19] The massive temple, constructed by the architect Pathos Verdes III, is filled with traps and monsters, and has three sections dedicated to the Titan Atlas and gods Poseidon and Hades, respectively.[20] The Underworld is a fiery realm with spiked pillars full of souls and flaming versions of previously encountered enemies. Athens is the scene of the final battle before a denouement on Mount Olympus in the God of War's throne room.[17]

Plot

Kratos is a warrior who serves the Greek gods of Olympus. Flashbacks reveal that he was once a successful captain in the Spartan army and led his men to several victories before being defeated by a barbarian king. Facing death, Kratos called on the God of War, Ares, whom he promised to serve if the god would spare his men and provide the power to destroy their enemies. Ares agreed and bonded the Blades of Chaos, a pair of chained blades forged in the depths of Tartarus, to his new servant. Kratos, equipped with the blades, then decapitated the barbarian king.[23]

Kratos waged war at the behest of Ares, eventually leading an attack on a village occupied by worshipers of Athena. Ares had secretly transported Kratos' wife and child to the village; during his frenzied attack on its temple, Kratos accidentally killed them. Although Ares believed this act would free Kratos to become the perfect warrior, the Spartan instead renounced his pledge of servitude to the god. The oracle of the destroyed village cursed Kratos by bonding the ashes of his dead family to his skin, turning it ash-white and earning him the nickname, "Ghost of Sparta". Plagued by nightmares of his horrible deed, Kratos vowed to serve the other gods in hope of ridding himself of the visions.[23]

When the game starts, Kratos has been serving the gods for ten years. He kills the Hydra on behalf of Poseidon, but grows tired of his service and suffering. He summons Athena, who states that if Kratos performs one final act—the murder of Ares—he will be forgiven for killing his family. Ares is waging war on the city of Athens out of hatred and jealousy of his sister Athena, who assigns Kratos to destroy Ares because Zeus has forbidden divine intervention. Athena guides Kratos to the war-torn Athens. After a strange encounter with a gravedigger who encourages him to continue his task, Kratos battles his way to Athens's oracle, finds her, and learns that the only way to defeat Ares is with Pandora's Box, a mythical artifact that grants the power to kill a god.[23]

Kratos enters the Desert of Lost Souls, and Athena tells him Pandora's Box is hidden in a temple chained to the back of the Titan Cronos—a punishment by Zeus for Cronos' role in the Great War. Kratos summons Cronos, climbs for three days before reaching the Temple entrance, overcomes an array of deadly traps and an army of monsters, and eventually finds the Box. But Ares, aware of his former servant's success, kills Kratos as the latter is leaving the Temple. While harpies take the Box to Ares, Kratos falls into the Underworld. He battles his way through the fiery realm, and with help from the mysterious gravedigger, who tells him Athena is not the only god watching over him, he escapes and returns to Athens.[23]

Kratos recovers Pandora's Box from Ares, opens it, and uses its power to become godlike. Despite Ares' best efforts to destroy Kratos physically and mentally, including stripping him of the Blades of Chaos and all magic, he survives and kills Ares with the Blade of the Gods. Athens is saved, and although Athena tells Kratos his sins are forgiven, the gods refuse to rid him of his nightmares. Forsaken by the gods, he tries to commit suicide by casting himself into the Aegean Sea, but Athena intervenes and transports him to Mount Olympus. As a reward for his services to the gods, she provides Kratos with a new set of blades and the seat as the new God of War.[23]

Development

Santa Monica began development of God of War in 2002, under the working title Dark Odyssey,[24] and unveiled it two years later at SCEA Santa Monica Gamers' Day 2004.[25] In a meeting with GameSpot at the 2004Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the developers said there would be 15 to 25 different attacks with the player's main weapon in the final game, with a free-form combo system that would allow players to combine moves in almost any order. GameSpot said the developers described the gameplay "as merging the action of Devil May Cry with the puzzle-solving of Ico" and noted that players would be able to "sunder enemies with a single move, such as by ripping them in half".[26]

Game Director David Jaffe confirmed the game would be a cinematic presentation. He said that at E3, they got to see where players were having issues with the camera system and said, "we are doing extensive focus tests, and using data compiled from E3, to find and fix the problem areas" of the cameras. He said he had the confidence that the team would fix the problems before the game's release. However, he said if players "hate cinematic camera systems, nothing we can do will help you like the God of War cameras".[27] The game uses Santa Monica's Kinetica engine, which they developed for their previous game, Kinetica.[28]

Although the game is based on Greek mythology, the development team gave themselves "lots of freedom" to modify the myths, and Jaffe said they took the "coolest aspects of the subject" and wrote a story using those elements.[27] In an interview for Eurogamer, he said while the idea for God of War was his own, the concept owed a debt to Capcom because he had played Onimusha and said "let's do that with Greek Mythology". He was inspired in part by the 1981 feature film, Clash of the Titans, saying, "the real high concept for me was ... merging it with Heavy Metal magazine". He said he liked both "the kids stuff ... with Greek Mythology" and the idea of adding more adult themes such as sex and violence.[29]

After E3 2004, Jaffe told IGN that the creative team's goal was to "make the player feel brutal, letting their inner beast free and just going nuts". He said the game's combat system would have an unparalleled degree of freedom. The team designed two systems of combat: a "macro" system, which gives players the choice between normal combat, magical attacks, or using the QTE feature to kill a foe; and a "micro" system, where players press a sequence of buttons to perform different attacks.[27] Puzzles were implemented, including self-contained ones that incorporate up to three rooms of the game, and global puzzles that spread across four or five areas. Jaffe compared the game to the popular Prince of Persia series—which also incorporates puzzle and platforming elements—and said that while each puzzle in that series is a slight variation of the last, "each puzzle in God of War is its own beast".[27]

Frank Cifaldi of Gamasutra covered a speech by Jaffe on the development of God of War at the 2006 D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. Cifaldi said "God of War was a rare opportunity for a game designer" because Sony gave Jaffe nearly complete creative control to develop a game on his terms with a substantial budget. He stated that Jaffe wanted to make the game "out of passion, not fear, and that it would be a game that [Jaffe] himself, as a game player, would want to play". Jaffe said the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark also inspired the development of God of War; he wanted to make players feel like he felt as a child watching that film, but did not want to put the player in the role of an adventurer, referencing The Legend of Zelda games. He elaborated that God of War was designed to be simplistic and forward-moving, but the game "is not innovative or unique, and that's intentional". Jaffe said that their system was shallow and "it forced the team to constantly create new content to trapeze the player from one area of interest to the next".[30] He said he understood modular game design—the need to have great looking, high-detail levels without having to build and texture every minuscule piece of the environment[31]—but "[he] was going to get bored" if they did not step outside of those boundaries.[30]

Release

The demo of God of War, entitled God of War: The Hydra Battle, was released on January 1, 2005. It featured Kratos battling various opponents and ended with a portion of the Hydra battle that opens the main game.[32] The game was released on March 22 in North America,[33] July 8 in the United Kingdom, and November 17 in Japan.[34] By the end of July, it was the sixth-best-selling game of 2005 up to that point.[35] In 2006, it became available in the PlayStation 2 lineup of Greatest Hits.[34] In June 2012, Sony reported that the game sold more than 4.6 million copies worldwide.[36]

The game and its sequel, God of War II, were released in North America on November 17, 2009, as part of the God of War Collection, featuring remastered ports of both games for the PlayStation 3 platform, with upscaled graphics and support for PlayStation 3 Trophies.[37][38] It became available in Japan on March 18, 2010,[1] Australia on April 29,[39] and the UK on April 30.[40] The God of War Collection was released as a digital download on the PlayStation Store on November 2, 2010, and was the first product containing PlayStation 2 software available via download.[41]PlayStation Plus subscribers can download a one-hour trial of each game.[42] By June 2012, God of War Collection had sold more than 2.4 million copies worldwide.[36] A PlayStation Vita version of God of War Collection was released on May 6, 2014.[5] On August 28, 2012, the remastered version of God of War—along with God of War II, God of War III, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and God of War: Ghost of Sparta—was included in the God of War Saga, under Sony's line of PlayStation Collections for the PlayStation 3 in North America.[43]

Soundtrack

God of War: Original Soundtrack from the Video Game, composed by Gerard K. Marino, Ron Fish, Winifred Phillips, Mike Reagan, Cris Velasco, Winnie Waldron, and Marcello De Francisci,[21] was released on CD by Sony Computer Entertainment as an exclusive product for the Sony Connect Music Store on March 1, 2005. The soundtrack was also made available for free to customers who purchased the game via a voucher code included with the game. Several of the tracks feature voice-over passages from the video game. Dave Valentine of Square Enix Music Online rated it 8 out of 10 and praised the composers for avoiding the production of "a neverending dullness of action themes". He complimented the soundtrack for having "a large number of well-developed orchestral themes, with a noticeable creative use of ancient and ethnic instrumentation".[44] Spence D. of IGN gave the soundtrack 6.9 out of 10 and also praised the use of ancient and ethnic instrumentation, but criticized the uneven transitions between tracks.[45] In March 2010, the soundtrack was released as downloadable content as part of the God of War Trilogy Soundtrack in the God of War III Ultimate Edition.[46]

God of War was critically acclaimed, with aggregate scores of 93.69% from GameRankings[55] and 94 out of 100 from Metacritic,[54] who describe their score as "universal acclaim".[56] Tom Lane of CNN wrote, "God of War is the type of game that makes you remember why you play games in the first place." He said it is addictive and the action is balanced with a modest amount of puzzle and platforming elements. He praised how quickly it progresses and said it "is one of the most violent [games] on the market".[57]

Raymond Padilla of GameSpy said the gameplay is "excellent" and it has "some of the goriest, most exaggerated, and over-the-top violence I've ever seen". He praised the combo system for being generous, with players easily able to execute attack combinations, but added that it can challenge players who "throw themselves into the system".[52] Chris Sell of PAL Gaming Network wrote that the most enjoyable aspect of the combat is its simplicity. He said the QTEs are "superbly enjoyable", "highly satisfying", and most entertaining during boss fights. In regards to combining combat with platforming, Sell said, "God of War pulls it off perfectly."[58]

Lane said the story is "compelling",[57] while Sell stated that it is well laid out and rarely stalls.[58] Padilla wrote, "God of War is the best thing to happen to Greek mythology" since Harry Hamlin played Perseus in Clash of the Titans. He praised the sound as very strong, but felt that some of the voice acting and music tracks are overstated.[52] Kristan Reed of Eurogamer said the audio is "a stunningly evocative example of a well-judged dramatic soundtrack and thunderous effects".[48]

Sell stated that the graphics are "quite possibly the best on the PS2" and rival games on the Xbox. He said the character models are "excellent" and each level has its own distinctive feel.[58] Eric Blattberg of PlayStation Universe praised the graphics for being seamless, realistic, and capable of being able to run at 480p on a widescreen television. He said the textures are "great", and the environments are "stunning and unbelievably detailed."[59] Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar noted the amount of detail, elaborating that as a consequence of the aging hardware of the PS2, "the graphics occasionally stutter or even slow down." He still gave the game a perfect score, concluding, "these problems are minor nits next to God of War's creative design, riveting plot and sheer balls-out fun. One of the best action titles on the PS2, God of War stands out as an ultraviolent masterpiece."[50]

Sell said God of War has very few flaws and that the only one worth mentioning is the camera system: he said that although the cameras do a great job of following Kratos, "there are a fair few annoying moments when you're attacked by something off-screen, or you fail to make a jump because you couldn't really see the jump properly". Other minor complaints from Sell include its lack of replayability, the amount of time it takes to upgrade items, and the final fight with Ares, which he said is "a little disappointing".[58] Reed wrote that in a few notable occasions, he found some of the platforming balancing acts "a little bothersome". He said players may be overwhelmed by the number of enemies, but they will eventually get their "brain and reactions in gear and move onto the next gripping section and feel hugely satisfied".[48]

Awards and accolades

God of War won several "Game of the Year" awards.[60] At the 2005 Spike Video Game Awards, it was named "Best Action Game" and David Jaffe won "Designer of the Year" for the game. It was also a nominee for "Game of the Year", "Best Performance by a Human Male" (TC Carson as Kratos), and "Best Original Score".[61] At the 2006 Interactive Achievement Awards, it won several awards, including "Overall Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", and "Action/Adventure Game of the Year".[62] In 2009, IGN named God of War the seventh-best PlayStation 2 game of all time.[63] In November 2012, Complex magazine named God of War the eleventh-best PlayStation 2 game of all time.[64]

An official novelization of the game, titled God of War, was announced in July 2009, along with a novelization of God of War II.[65] It was written by Matthew Stover and Robert E. Vardeman,[66] and was published on May 25, 2010, by Del Rey Books.[67] In an interview for Play magazine, Vardeman said a mythology book written in the 1930s got him interested in Greek mythology, and the chance to work on the God of War novel "was an opportunity not to be missed". He said giving the readers a solid plot foundation was necessary and the novel required extra material so that it did not simply follow the action of the game. Although he has not played the game, he said God of War was based on the traditional Edith Hamilton Greek mythology, essentially "the accepted mythology on steroids". Vardeman called Kratos a substantial character, continuing, "This conflict of motives makes him a great, if troubled, hero." He confirmed his work on the second God of War novel, saying there are many potential story ideas for Kratos and that "it would be a shame" if there were not additional books to fill in the details of his quests, such as stories of the time while he was a minion of Ares or before he met the Barbarian King.[68]

The novel recounts the events of the game and offers deeper insights into its story, explaining that Athena wanted Kratos to kill Ares and explaining how she manipulated the other gods, with the exception of Zeus, into aiding Kratos. After learning of Athena's plans, Zeus decides to aid Kratos (with magic and as the gravedigger) with the intention of Kratos becoming the new God of War after killing Ares.[69] Poseidon is persuaded by Athena when she convinces him that Ares brought the Hydra into his domain.[70] Artemis is persuaded because Ares and his minions are destroying her wilderness and its wildlife, and by aiding Kratos she will prevent future destruction.[71] Athena manipulates Aphrodite into believing that Medusa is plotting against her.[72] Hades, however, is omitted from the book, as Kratos does not meet him or gain his magic.[73] Another omission from the book is the part where Kratos receives a new set of blades from Athena,[74] and the Blades of Chaos is revealed to have been forged by Hephaestus in Tartarus.[75]

The god Hermes is not in the game, but in the novel, he is responsible for informing Athena that Kratos is committing suicide.[76] New characters include Coeus, the First Officer of Kratos' ship,[77] and the two servants of Medusa: Jurr and a blind man.[78] The twins encountered in the sex mini-game are revealed to be the daughters of Aphrodite named Zora and Lora.[79][80] The book also explains how certain creatures of the mythology that were slain by heroes are, apparently, still alive. For example, Zeus recollects that Hercules slew the Hydra, and Athena confirms this, but informs Zeus that the new Hydra is a newborn spawn of the Titans Typhon and Echidna, and was released by Ares.[81]

Film

A film adaptation was announced in 2005.[82] Jaffe confirmed that a script had been completed by David Self and they were looking for a director.[83] He confirmed that Universal Studios is committed to making the God of War film, but he was unaware of its status,[84] and later expressed doubt the film would be released.[85] In September 2008, Brett Ratner told UGO that he would direct the film,[86] but in February 2009, it was confirmed that he had left the project to direct Tower Heist.[87] In March 2010, Santa Monica confirmed that they have no creative control over the film.[85] During the God of War – Game Directors Live documentary, filmed on September 1, 2010, Jaffe said the "script went out a year and a half ago to Daniel Craig, who plays [James] Bond, but he turned it down". He indicated an actor had since signed on for the role of Kratos, and said, "this new person is pretty good, if that ends up true".[88] In July 2012, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the writers of Pacific Rim, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, had been hired to adapt God of War into a film.[89]

On August 30, 2012, Melton and Dunstan stated in an IGN interview that they were hired to rework Self's screenplay as they considered it outdated, being written before recent films in the same genre, such as Clash of the Titans (2010) and its sequel, Wrath of the Titans (2012). The first step will be to apparently humanize Kratos, who will begin as a mortal and still have his family, with the pivotal change being the barbarian attack. Melton added, "We're going to learn about [Kratos] and understand how he operates. So it's potentially 30 minutes ... of building up this character so that, when he ... becomes the Ghost of Sparta, we understand him as a human and ... the journey that he's going to take." According to Dunstan, "with a bigger movie like God of War, you have to go quite a bit deeper into the character as opposed to a horror film". Melton and Dunstan also have "big plans" for Ares. Melton said they are "trying to build [Ares] up a bit more ... so that he can become a true villain" beyond his raid of Athens.[90]

In November 2012, the writers told GameSpot that God of War will "improve on films like Clash of the Titans and Immortals by taking a step in a bolder direction." Melton said that Sony has "encouraged" them to make it different from other films in the same genre. It was confirmed that Charles Roven and Alex Gartner, who are producing the Uncharted film, will be producing the movie via Atlas Entertainment.[91] In early 2013, God of War: Ascension's Game Director, Todd Papy, said he did not know the status of the film.[92] The writer behind the God of War video games, Marianne Krawczyk, said her main worry with the movie adaptation is casting Kratos: "The player has a personal experience with him, and then he's going to be embodied by a different actor, he's going to have a different voice, he's going to say a lot more words. So I think it will be hard to get that across," but she is hopeful that it can be done.[93] As of September 2013, the movie is without a director, no actors have been confirmed, a release date has not been set,[91] but the script has been "turned in".[94] It has a budget of $150 million USD.[90]